It was a one hour flight from Bangkok to Phuket, and from there a two hour ferry ride south east to a little slice of paradise called Koh Phi Phi (pronounced Koh Pee Pee). Ryan in Shanghai told me I had to see this place, and he was right on. Koh Phi Phi is actually two islands, Phi Phi Don, where everybody who visits stays, and the uninhabited Phi Phi Leh. There is a trail on Phi Phi Don that takes you up to a viewpoint about 600 feet up. Pretty breathtaking

Phi Phi Don is basically two long sections of limestone connected in the middle by a thin strip of land where all of the tourism infrastructure is located. If you take a closer look at some of the parts of the strip, it is still obvious that a tsunami leveled this place a year ago

But the rebuilding is going on at a feverish pace and it doesn’t look like it will be long before the whole strip is rebuilt.

Besides the beaches on either side of the strip, there are a few scattered about the island, and pretty much only accessible by boat. Taxi boats like these are available everywhere

and a quick ride takes you over to Long Beach, a glorious stretch of sand and ocean

Out there across the bay is Phi Phi Leh

I hooked up with Chai to take me out to Phi Phi Leh one day

Within the towering cliffs of limestone lies Maya Bay, home to the beach where the movie The Beach was filmed

Nice enough to have a movie named after it I think

Ran into Hendrika from Denmark out there, shot some pool with her a few nights previous

A big thumbs up on the snorkeling in Maya Bay, hundreds of rainbow-colored fish and good coral reefs to see

Not to mention just cooling off in the waters, very hot and humid in Thailand

A funky little island just beyond Phi Phi Leh

Chai took me out that way a few days later to do some fishing, we ended up with about fifteen red snappers

The restaurant next to my bungalow will cook your own fish to order for $2 a fish. I think I had the one on the left in a garlic sauce and the one on the right in a sweet and sour sauce. Delicious.

Speaking of the bungalow, not a bad setup, it comes with air-conditioning and satellite tv for $30 a night. If you are willing to settle for no air or tv, you can get down to $10 a night, but like I said, it is ridiculously hot here in Thailand. Plus a little HBO every now and then doesn’t hurt

Enjoying a cold one as the sun sets on another magnificent day

With no cars on the island, and nightlife spots like Hippies Bar and The Rolling Stoned Bar, Koh Phi Phi takes laid back to a whole new level.

I had a ticket to fly from Phuket to Koh Samui, but my flight left yesterday and I wasn’t on it. Still plenty to smile about here in Koh Phi Phi